Moroccan locust attacks Dagestan

Makhachkala, June 30, 2015. Northern Dagestan districts suffer heavy losses due to the invasion of Moroccan locust. The vice-premier of the republican government Sharip Sharipov arrived in the area most impacted by the pest.

Earlier, according to the head of Lak district, the area suffered from the Asiatic locust, eliminated by the local farmers. However, this year the Moroccan locust came. It is detrimental to the melons, vegetables, tobacco, clover, alfalfa, millet, maize, barley, wheat, walnuts, fruit trees, grapes, ornamental and forest crops.
"At present, about 2.5 thousand hectares are infected. The local authorities signed contracts and conduct negotiations with different plant protection centers.

The promised to give us all the necessary pesticides and aircrafts. At the beginning of the week, we will start processing the contaminated area. As a result, the regional farms suffer huge losses. The herds of sheep, which are now on summer pastures, will not find grass on winter pastures when they come back in the fall. We will have to spend additional funds to purchase roughage "- Alilov complained.

In response, Sharip Sharipov assured that the authorities are closely monitoring the progress of fight against insects and systematically organize phyto-monitoring of farmlands to timely localize the nidus of reproduction.

"In this work, a lot depends on land users, the managers of farms, which must independently monitor the situation and respond quickly. This is very important because the republican state services, taking into account the limited financial and technical capabilities, face problems in achieving proper result" - Sharipov added.